


Foreigners

by jenish (phizzle)



Category: Instant Credit, Lost RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-03-24
Updated: 2005-03-24
Packaged: 2017-10-07 20:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phizzle/pseuds/jenish





	Foreigners

Three months. Three fucking _months_ she'd been here, in this place, this city that didn't know or care what her name was, just as long as she didn't get in anyone's _way_. Gail stared at the coins in her hand and considered her options. She could go home, take the Tube maybe; she could get something to eat; she could go have a drink.

She closed her eyes. Fuck it. _Drink it is._

She drummed her fingers on the bar, waiting to be served, weighing up just how smashed she could get on the money in her pocket. Judging by how little she'd eaten lately, pretty well rat-arsed. Just as well. Maybe she wouldn't feel so hungry for a while. _And some models starve on **purpose**. Crazy fucks._

A voice floated past behind her, rough notes of home, and she thought of Frankie. She missed him; but, fuck, ringing him? Admitting it was all bullshit and she'd upped and left on the strength of one measly job - _Gonna make it, Frankie, this is my chance_ – and then, what? Giving up, going home, back to a flat that smelled of grease and Glasgow and failure?

"Hang on in there," her mother used to say. "Just keep trying." _Yeah, well, I'm fucking sick of trying. But not sick enough to admit defeat yet._

She almost didn't notice the bartender coming round to her. Ordered her drink, counted out the change, took that first grateful gulp.

_Thwack._ Someone slammed into her abruptly from behind, and the contents of her glass landed unceremoniously down her (one and fucking only) clean shirt. She closed her eyes, trying not to scream or burst into tears.

"Oh God, I'm sorry." A voice behind her, Canadian, kinda sweet – Gail turned. The woman in front of her flustered, producing a napkin almost out of thin air and rushing to swipe at Gail's shirt. "I'm so sorry, I tripped and – I didn't see you there – I'm so sorry."

Gail held onto the bar, sitting heavily on a stool. Maybe she would just fucking burst into tears.

The stranger looked at her face. "I'm really, really sorry. Can I buy you another drink? Least I can do."

Gail looked down at her ruined shirt. She didn't have enough money for the laundrette yet. A few tears leaked out, dripping among the spread stain. "Thanks," she sniffed.

The woman tilted her chin up until their eyes met. _She has lovely eyes_, Gail thought, unconnected to most things. Suddenly, she couldn't remember what her name was or the last time the ground was solid.

"Hey," Pretty Eyes said. "You okay? You wanna go somewhere quieter? Kinda… crowded in here." She paused. "I'm Evie. By the way."

"Th-thanks." Gail rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. "I'm – Gail, 'm. Gail." She sighed, standing and slumping against Evie.

"Okay, Gail. C'mon, I'll take you somewhere and – hey, are you hungry? I'm _starved_. And," she looked around, "I got stood up, so I know there's a table in a _very_ nice restaurant with an empty space. I'd feel a bit of an idiot sitting there all on my own. Take pity on a poor foreign girl and have dinner with me?"

Gail opened her mouth, closed it again. "I'd – I'd love to, but – I'm a foreigner m'self, and I … can't really-"

"Take pity on me anyway? Us foreigners gotta stick together, right?" Evie's voice softened. "Unless you have somewhere else to be."

Gail thought about the flat, the dripping tap, the leaking washing machine, the fridge that held one mouldy tomato, the empty answering machine. "No. Nowhere else to be. But-"

"C'mon, Gail, it'll be my treat. I'm feeling impulsive." Evie grinned. "I have this list of things I want to do before I die – or leave London, whichever comes first –" Gail giggled – "and on it is 'Take a nice-looking complete stranger out for dinner'. You never know who you could end up with."

Gail blushed. "Nice-looking?"

Evie grinned. "Well, maybe 'gorgeous'."

_Why not?_ Gail nodded. "Alright then. Lead on, MacDuff."

"And she quotes Shakespeare too," Evie muttered, eyes glinting. She lead on.


End file.
